The most useful thing I learned from my parents is that if you neurotically teach your kids to be risk-averse, they will just end up taking those risks as less practiced, less resilient adults.
(If they're lucky.)
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My mother was terrified I'd end up broke if I started doing art, & so intensely discouraging that she managed to get me to internalize her fear.
So now, I want to do art as an adult with serious obligations and no experience.
Nice object lesson in the value of parental advice.
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And if they're unlucky:
you've permanently made your kids boring, at least until the inevitable mid-life crisis.
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I have worked with clients who grow up never taking risks, and never do it as adults. They then end up with no ability to cope or resiliency, and when a black swan like a layoff happens...
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Yeah, I've been increasing my level of risk taking since my teens. I started out modestly, and have accelerated slowly.
Enormously costly not to have done so even earlier.
I have a friend who is in his 50s and having similar neo-formative experiences, so I suppose I'm v. lucky.
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